House Price Decline Not Affecting Auckland New Builds

It is a good time to be a builder serving in the Auckland area. July 2019 data released by Quotable Value showed that house prices in Auckland were down 2.7% over the past 12 months (compared to July 2018), with many North Shore suburbs down 3.9% - With East Auckland with the smallest decline at 2.4%. However this has not affected the number of building consents issued for new builds, with Auckland increasing by 13% (the highest on record) – July 2019 compared to July 2018.

New dwelling consents

In June 2019, 2,881 new dwellings were consented, comprising:

1,653 stand-alone houses

630 townhouses, flats, and units

491 apartments

107 retirement village units.

Data from Stats.govt.nz

Kevin Yang, director of www.superiorrenovations.co.nz a renovation company in Auckland, said that “Declining house prices are driving greater spend on house renovations. Feedback we’ve been getting from clients shows that in Auckland, where house prices have dropped the most, homeowners are finding other ways to increase the value of the property therefore choosing to renovate their homes. Many are renovating their investment properties to increase rent, then waiting for prices to increase again to sell at the later stage”.

Looking build you own home or renovate an outdated home? Now might be a good time as prices for land/homes are still relatively low and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be changing any time soon.